Belgenland (1914)

The "Belgenland" was built in 1914 and originally served as a freighter and World War I troopship for the White Star Line under the name "SS Belgic". Because she was needed for the war effort, she was hastily finished with only two smokestacks and a superstructure only one deck high. Initially used for carrying cargo, in 1918 she was given accommodations for up to 3,000 troops. Her gross tonnage was listed at 24,547.

Conversion to luxury liner

She remained in her troopship guise until April 1921, when she was laid up at Liverpool. There were no berths available at any of the shipyards so that she could be rebuilt. Harland & Wolff finally had a free berth, and in March of 1922 she was towed to Belfast, where work on her reconstruction began in earnest. She was given to the Red Star Line and renamed "Belgenland". She was the second Red Star ship to be given this name. She was given a superstructure four decks in height and a third smokestack. Her tonnage was increased to over 27,000 gross tons, making her Red Star’s largest and most luxurious ship. She remained on route for a decade, and occasionally spent time on extensive world and winter cruises. On December 4th, 1924, she embarked on a 133-day world cruise — one of the longest attempted by a luxury liner at the time - advertised as "The Largest Ship to Circle the Globe". One of her most famous passengers was Albert Einstein. Returning to Germany on board her in 1933, he found out Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Einstein got off the ship at Antwerp, sailed on another Red Star Liner back to the United States (the "Westernland"), and vowed never to return to Germany. Also in the 1920s, White Star line stewardess, Violet Jessop, famous for surviving the Titanic sinking, sailed on "Belgenland" on two round the world cruises while employed for Red Star.

The Depression and demise

The Depression hit the "Belgenland" hard. Laid up in the winter of 1932-33, she made only three voyages the following summer, and they were Mediterranean cruises. The millionaires who took her lengthy and expensive cruises were now unable to do so. Then she was laid up again in September at the Port of London. The Atlantic Transport Company purchased her in January 1935 and renamed her ‘’Columbia’’. She was then placed with their subsidiary, Panama Pacific Line and placed on they New York — California service via the Panama Canal. This venture failed and another attempt was made to place her on the New York – West Indies route, but this too failed. She was too large for either service and was once again laid up — this time permanently. On April 22, 1936, she sailed from New York to the United Kingdom, and her scrapping commenced on May 4th of that year.

Further reading

* The First Great Ocean Liners in Photographs, 1897-1927, by William H. Miller (writer)
* Pictorial Encyclopedia of Ocean Liners, 1860-1994, by William H. Miller (writer)

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/luxury_liners/Belgenland.html A brief history of the "Belgenland"]
* [http://www.clements.umich.edu/Webguides/C/Cape.html Mrs. Emily Cape’s "Belgenland" adventure]
* [http://www.einstein-website.de/z_biography/princeton-e.html Albert Einstein's fateful "Belgenland" voyage]